"Under a leaden December sky in the winter of 1853, Major James H. Carleton rode southeast out of Albuquerque at the head of a squadron of cavalry--off to quell the Apaches and incidentally to visit the little known ruins of three old Spanish missions at Abó, Quarai, and Gran Quivira. This is his diary of that excursion, now reprinted (probably for the first time since 1855). Today Gran Quivira is a National Monument. In those days it was a fabled "city," with legends of great treasures. The treasure tale is here told in full with the Spanish "directions" given in the original and with a translation. Here is the complete original text--one of the first comprehensive reports on these famous ruins. The old pueblo may be begun as early as 800 a.d. The Spanish began missionary work around 1626 and the place was abandoned around 1672. Some historic ans called Gran Quivira one of "the cities that died of fear" because Apache raids combined with famine and drouth."--From jacket flap.